Wayside: Once a Farm

"Once a Farm" wayside sign along the Pyramid Point trail in Port Oneida

Quick Facts

Location:

44° 57' 46.68" N, 85° 55' 41.142" W

Amenities

1 listed

Audio Description

Main Exhibit Text

Pyramid Point was once a farm. You are in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore’s Port Oneida Rural Historic District—the country’s largest and most complete historical agricultural landscape in public ownership. Rock foundations, a cellar pit, a crooked apple tree, and stories shared are all that remain of the Carsten and Anne Catherine Miller farm. At a spot to the left of the trail, they raised five girls in a hand-hewn log home. One of their daughters, Mary, became a bit of a hermit. She stayed on after her parents died, tore down the log house, and pieced together a little shack to live in up the trail.

Farming was never easy on this glacially-scoured, nutrient-poor land, but the immigrant families who settled here worked hard to make a living, sometimes raising just enough food for their own family. Most grew fruit trees and grains—wheat, rye, oats, corn—and kept dairy cows, hogs, and chickens. Can you picture what this area once looked like?

Image Descriptions

Background Image

The background of this exhibit is a sepia-colored historic photograph of a farm. The farm is located at the base of a large tree covered hill. At lower elevations on the hill, there are many felled trees. At higher elevations the trees are much taller. There are multiple farm related buildings in the image as well as a two-story light-colored house. Near the middle of the image is a wagon pulled by two horses. The wagon is full of bales of hay or grain, hanging over the edge of the wagon. There are four people standing on top of the bales in the wagon.

Caption

This photo of the Martin and Allay Basch Farm shows what Port Oneida farms looked like in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Find the Martin and Allay Basch farm on the map (above).

Port Oneida Rural Historic District Map (top right)

In the top right corner of the exhibit is a map of the Port Oneida Rural Historic District. The map shows the location of former farm sites, identified by small house icons, and wetlands, identified by a green pattern. There is a "You Are Here" marker where you are standing, by Pyramid Point Dunes. Also identified on the map are the Port Oneida Dock & Town Site, Port Oneida School, Cemetery, Martin and Allay Basch Farm, and North Unity School.

Caption

It is rare to find such a large collection of older farms free from modern development.